The North American International Auto Show is held in January at Cobo Center.

The Detroit Auto Dealers Association is gaining support for its potential move of the North American International Auto Show from January to October.

The potential move is propelled by a need for automakers and suppliers to showcase new technologies, such as autonomous cars, crash-avoidance systems and ride-sharing applications, that are better experienced outside Cobo's walls, a source familiar with the proposed move told Crain's last week.

If the show moves, it wouldn't happen until 2020, the source said.

Southfield-based Denso International America Inc., which has been on the show floor for 14 years, said it favors moving the Cobo Center show to October because it would "provide a lot of new and exciting opportunities."

But while the move is largely supported by stakeholders, it will be a complicated process.

Most notably, NAIAS and Cobo Center signed an $11.8 million contract in July to keep the auto show at the Detroit riverfront event space through 2025, and in January. Moving the show to October would likely require contract renegotiation. There are currently no scheduled events that would conflict with a potential October date for NAIAS, Cobo Center confirmed to Crain's.

The show's 12-week setup schedule would also likely have to be shortened. The show laborers begin setting up the January show in October of every year but moving the show would cause that timeline to be constrained as other shows typically occur in September.

The move has come under question privately, the source confirmed, due to large labor bills for automakers who must pay overtime and holiday pay to union laborers working through the many holidays ahead of the show, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

Annalise Frank/Crain’s Detroit Business

The North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit in January this year drew more than 5,000 media from 60 countries.

Moving the show to October also would put space between NAIAS and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which typically occurs the week before the Detroit auto show.

Many automakers and suppliers are forced to choose one or the other to showcase technologies. Several have chosen CES in recent years.

For example, in 2012 Mercedes-Benz skipped NAIAS to unveil a self-driving car concept. In 2016, Audi AG sent a driverless car from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, live-streaming the trip for all the world to see, and Fiat Chrysler chose to debut its Chrysler Portal concept at CES in 2017 instead of NAIAS.

But by moving to October, NAIAS then gets closer to rubbing up against the show in Frankfurt, Germany in September and the Paris Motor Show in October.

Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd., which operates as Aisin World Corp. of America in Northville, supports the move to October, but has reservations about its ability to participate fully in all the shows around that time.

"The proposed October dates are likely to make life easier for the Aisin team to participate at NAIAS given the current proximity to CES. However, Aisin also participates in other top global shows like Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo... So there are always going to be challenges, just at different times," Aisin spokesman Joe Rohatynski said in an email to Crain's.